Dallas-based App Lets You ‘Preciate’ Your Peers

The mobile application allows workers to 'build a story' of past achievements to create stronger professional relationships. With users from almost every U.S. state and a new blockchain-based protocol on the way, the startup aims to change the business world.

When Ed Stevens moved to Dallas from California, he quickly realized that bringing your credentials along with you isn’t as easy as it seems. He did some research, and found that 81 percent of workers wish they had stronger connections to those around them.

Ed Stevens [Photo via Preciate]

So in an attempt to alleviate the problem, the serial entrepreneur got together with Dave Morrison, a senior finance executive, to create a mobile application that would fill the gaps that a résumé might miss.

Enter Preciate: a new recognition app designed to help working professionals boost their relational wealth.

“Preciate is an app that allows you to build a story of your most valuable accomplishments, told by those who know you best,” Stevens, CEO of the company, said.

Kate Sheffield [Photo via Preciate]

Stevens and Morrison brought on Kate Sheffield, who has a strong background in operations and media, as President and COO to run the day-to-day and help shape the product.

Together, the team set out to build stronger relationships in the working world.

And they might be onto something—the startup is already growing at a rapid speed, with 287 companies from nearly every U.S. state using their app.

How it works

Preciate has two main parts: sending recognition to others, and looking through your feed at recognitions that have been received by members of your community.

The various types of recognition badges follow users everywhere they go. In addition to the recognitions, users can post text, photos, and other content on the walls of their peers. Over time, a Preciate profile will then give employers, neighbors, or coworkers a better idea of each users’ strengths and skill sets.

“There’s two things that separate us from business-oriented recognition apps,” Stevens says. “The first one is that the story that you build on Preciate is yours—it’s not the company’s. Even if your company uses Preciate, you get to keep your story, it transports with you to your next job, and your job after that, and your job after that. So it’s not a business application, it’s an application for you to build your own wealth of relationships and your own record of accomplishments.”

The goal for Preciate is to change the professional world and inspire positivity in and outside of the work place. In using the app, employers can learn about potential candidates on a much deeper level, team composition can be created faster and more accurately than ever before, and careers can better fit personalities. And, that information can be kept on the same data base no matter where its users go.

While other websites—like Glassdoor—give insight into company culture, Preciate hones in on each individual employee at any given company.

And, Preciate can be used outside of the office too. Features allow users to send badges or write on the walls of contractors, freelancers, or other people who may not be officially part of your company’s community.

Eventually, the intent is for users to have thousands of data points recognizing their accomplishments, painting a picture of a vast range of success.

Made in Dallas

Preciate is currently developing a new blockchain-based protocol called the Goodwill Composite Protocol, which aims to be the world’s first recognition protocol.

With their app growing rapidly, Stevens and Sheffield contribute some of their success to Dallas being an entrepreneurial hub.

[Photo via Preciate]

“I’ve lived in a lot of places in the world, I’ve been to a lot of cities, and I don’t think there’s a place that’s more people oriented, friendly, and supportive in the business world than Dallas,” Stevens said. “And if you think of Dallas as a place where business people are supportive of each other, it would make a whole lot of sense to start Preciate there.”

Too frequently in the professional world, accomplishments and reputations aren’t transferred when employees switch jobs or relocate to different cities.

“We just thought that it was really important for you to be able to take your accomplishments and have them recorded by the people who know you,” Stevens said. “Then, you’d be able to build your own story of those accomplishments and have that with you so that you go from job to job and city to city, all that wealth that you built in your relationships is there for you to share with others.”

Recognizing the accomplishments of others isn’t a new concept, but with the help of Preciate, Stevens believes the positive feeling you get when recognized for your actions can be captured forever.

“Recognition happens today, it happened before Preciate came along,” Stevens said. “People give props to their colleagues and say ‘way to go.’ We just think that there should be a place where that recognition goes, so it doesn’t disappear after somebody gives it to you.”

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